A Good Linux Distro For Music Production?

[GaryG]

the Linux gods must be smiling on me as i've now been purely avlinux for three weeks with only one real issue (native chow tapemodel plug won't initiate) and that's with next to no previous experience. My cheapo class compliant interface just worked, my arturia kb and novation launch control just worked with no drivers (easier than windows for the latter...) , just about all the windows plugs i bridged work fine (but that's a bonus, can't moan programs designed for a totally different OS don't work)

Haven't even had to really configure anything either, my IF showed up in Jack, tweaked the buffer as you would in windows and that was it. Probably are things I can tune but even hogs like large Cardinal patches run fine currently.

I think you just need to take your time, ask on forums, get to know the file system (approaching it with a Windows mentality is bad, I found that out )

So, yeah, totally possible to make music with Linux, sorry some people have so much trouble but a blanket statement 'it doesn't work for music' is just not true.

[Largos]

I had problems with all DAWs, Ardour, Qtractor, Muse, even Ardour work better in Windows than in Linux, in many distros I always have plugin crashing the DAWs, Xruns etc. I invest my time been in forums, configurations, patching kernels, realtime configurations and my music is stuck because I'm wasting too much time trying to configure a system to work as Windows works out of the box, I had problems even with Ubuntu Studio and AVL, is so hard(to not say is almost impossible) to find a substitute of the DAWs, plugins I use in Windows, Why there's not Cubase Linux version? plugins in yabridge works like virtual machine with graphic problems, there's no universal libraries in Linux, if something works in Ubuntu 22.04 it wont work in 22.10 because the libraries were updated, on the other side Windows is 99.9% compatible with every software in the Earth but it spy you.
Lets talk clear, it is hard to make contemporary music in Linux.

It is hard for you. If you can't get it to work, too bad but it's ridiculous to come into threads with people who are getting on fine and try to talk like your personal experience is across the board fact for everyone.

[audiojunkie]

If you want a stable 100% compatibility with the standard DAWs, STAY ON WINDOWS 10, I had many problems with any linux distro with Waveform that some functions doesn't work in the linux version, ej. the external audio editor function simply doesn't appear in Wavefor 12 linux version, the latency and xruns in linux version is crazy, in windows version I don't have such issues.
My opinion, linux is good as a base for a developing workstation or as a server, but for a standard or audio production use is not, for that go to Windows 10(not 11) or Mac OS.

Reads like you had problems with one DAW rather than the operating system per se.

I had problems with all DAWs, Ardour, Qtractor, Muse, even Ardour work better in Windows than in Linux, in many distros I always have plugin crashing the DAWs, Xruns etc. I invest my time been in forums, configurations, patching kernels, realtime configurations and my music is stuck because I'm wasting too much time trying to configure a system to work as Windows works out of the box, I had problems even with Ubuntu Studio and AVL, is so hard(to not say is almost impossible) to find a substitute of the DAWs, plugins I use in Windows, Why there's not Cubase Linux version? plugins in yabridge works like virtual machine with graphic problems, there's no universal libraries in Linux, if something works in Ubuntu 22.04 it wont work in 22.10 because the libraries were updated, on the other side Windows is 99.9% compatible with every software in the Earth but it spy you.
Lets talk clear, it is hard to make contemporary music in Linux.

It sounds like you are struggling with PEBKAC issues. You will need to unlearn some things about how Windows works and learn the Linux way of doing things. That will help you a lot. Also, you pointed out that that you tried "all" DAWs, and then listed only Ardour, Qtractor, and MusE. While Ardour is likely the king of the open source realm, there are other DAWs that are commercial and may be more to your liking. You mention the desire for something like the commercial DAW, Cubase--why not try some of the commercial DAWs available in Linux, such as Reaper, BitWig, MixBus, Tracktion, or Presonus' Studio One? Ardour is quite feature complete, but it is not likely to be the easiest DAW to use. If you are willing to buy/use Cubase, consider the above commercial DAWs.

Also, you mention that you want to use WINE and yabridge for plugins on your Linux machine. That is more for experienced users. There are plenty of available native-linux software that works just as well out of the box as Windows plugins that work natively in Windows. I have yet to personally found a need to resort to using Windows plugins. Yes, they are available. Yes, lots of people use and enjoy them. However, without more Linux experience, which you currently lack, you are going to run into problems just like you mentioned above.

My recommendations for all musicians that are new to the Linux world is to start off easy and learn things as you go. Don't quit your Windows system "cold turkey". Start slow and ease into using Linux. Consider using a separate computer for your initial Linux experiences. If you don't have a spare computer, consider doing a dual-boot configuration. There are going to be lots of frustrations initially, while you are learning the Linux way of doing things. Use your Windows system while you are going through this. Little by little, you will become more comfortable with linux. At some point, if you keep working at it, you will become comfortable enough with Linux and the available tools that you will find yourself using Windows less and less. Eventually, you won't need Windows anymore. But it takes time and an adjustment period.

So, with that said, I suggest the following for new users starting with Linux:

1. Forget non-native Linux software and plugins. Use only Linux-native software and plugins.
2. Use a turn-key Linux OS that has already been prepared for audio work. I recommend considering the following:

A. AV Linux
B. Ubuntu Studio

3. Use Class Compliant hardware (ie. audio interface). I can't stress this enough. Class Compliant sound cards and equipment are simply plug-n-play--you don't have to worry about driver installation at all.


With all of that said, you need a list of good quality linux native plugins. I recommend starting with the following open source plugins. They are free and of high quality. They should allow you enough capability to become familiar with Linux. Freeware and commercial linux-native plugins and software can come later. Consider the following:

Open Source

Apps:
Ardour
Qtractor
Kwave
Polyphone
LoopAuditioneer
Giada
Mixxx
Audacity
Zrhythm
Rubber Band Audio
ConvertWithMoss
OpenUTAU

Plugins:
LinuxSampler (Also needs Qsampler & Gigedit)
Odin2
Surge-XT
ShortCircuit-XT (coming soon)
Airwindows (gui-less) airwindows.com
Linux Studio Plugins
Yoshimi
AVL Drums x42-plugins.com
Cardinal
GxPlugins.lv2 (Guitarix2)
X42-Plugins x42-plugins.com (including midi strum)
MDA-lv2 Plugins (gui-less) (David Robillard on Gitlab)
DrumGizmo
Sfizz
LiquidSFZ
Dexed
FluidSynthPlug, FluidPlug, Fluida.lv2, FluidSynthVST, ACE Fluid Synth (a-fluidsynth.lv2), SFZero-X, fluidsynth.clap
Monique - Bass and Lead synth
Helm
Dragonfly Reverbs
DSP56K Emulator (Requires ROM)
LibreArp
Elephant DSP Room Reverb (binaries on Github)
Mverb ( github.com/figbug/mverb )
LV2 port of the C* Audio Plugins Suite (caps-lv2)
Ninjas2
ADLPlug
Fire (Distortion plugin)
Geonkick
Guitarix.vst
PaulXStretch
Ninjas2
Neural-amp-modeler-lv2
Ildaeil
Carla (as an LV2 plugin)
No Budget Orchestra Plugins
Delay Architect
Aether Reverb
Vaporizer 2
AIDA-X

[edrickblade]

If you want a stable 100% compatibility with the standard DAWs, STAY ON WINDOWS 10, I had many problems with any linux distro with Waveform that some functions doesn't work in the linux version, ej. the external audio editor function simply doesn't appear in Wavefor 12 linux version, the latency and xruns in linux version is crazy, in windows version I don't have such issues.
My opinion, linux is good as a base for a developing workstation or as a server, but for a standard or audio production use is not, for that go to Windows 10(not 11) or Mac OS.

Reads like you had problems with one DAW rather than the operating system per se.

I had problems with all DAWs, Ardour, Qtractor, Muse, even Ardour work better in Windows than in Linux, in many distros I always have plugin crashing the DAWs, Xruns etc. I invest my time been in forums, configurations, patching kernels, realtime configurations and my music is stuck because I'm wasting too much time trying to configure a system to work as Windows works out of the box, I had problems even with Ubuntu Studio and AVL, is so hard(to not say is almost impossible) to find a substitute of the DAWs, plugins I use in Windows, Why there's not Cubase Linux version? plugins in yabridge works like virtual machine with graphic problems, there's no universal libraries in Linux, if something works in Ubuntu 22.04 it wont work in 22.10 because the libraries were updated, on the other side Windows is 99.9% compatible with every software in the Earth but it spy you.
Lets talk clear, it is hard to make contemporary music in Linux.

It sounds like you are struggling with PEBKAC issues. You will need to unlearn some things about how Windows works and learn the Linux way of doing things. That will help you a lot. Also, you pointed out that that you tried "all" DAWs, and then listed only Ardour, Qtractor, and MusE. While Ardour is likely the king of the open source realm, there are other DAWs that are commercial and may be more to your liking. You mention the desire for something like the commercial DAW, Cubase--why not try some of the commercial DAWs available in Linux, such as Reaper, BitWig, MixBus, Tracktion, or Presonus' Studio One? Ardour is quite feature complete, but it is not likely to be the easiest DAW to use. If you are willing to buy/use Cubase, consider the above commercial DAWs.

Also, you mention that you want to use WINE and yabridge for plugins on your Linux machine. That is more for experienced users. There are plenty of available native-linux software that works just as well out of the box as Windows plugins that work natively in Windows. I have yet to personally found a need to resort to using Windows plugins. Yes, they are available. Yes, lots of people use and enjoy them. However, without more Linux experience, which you currently lack, you are going to run into problems just like you mentioned above.

My recommendations for all musicians that are new to the Linux world is to start off easy and learn things as you go. Don't quit your Windows system "cold turkey". Start slow and ease into using Linux. Consider using a separate computer for your initial Linux experiences. If you don't have a spare computer, consider doing a dual-boot configuration. There are going to be lots of frustrations initially, while you are learning the Linux way of doing things. Use your Windows system while you are going through this. Little by little, you will become more comfortable with linux. At some point, if you keep working at it, you will become comfortable enough with Linux and the available tools that you will find yourself using Windows less and less. Eventually, you won't need Windows anymore. But it takes time and an adjustment period.

So, with that said, I suggest the following for new users starting with Linux:

1. Forget non-native Linux software and plugins. Use only Linux-native software and plugins.
2. Use a turn-key Linux OS that has already been prepared for audio work. I recommend considering the following:

A. AV Linux
B. Ubuntu Studio

3. Use Class Compliant hardware (ie. audio interface). I can't stress this enough. Class Compliant sound cards and equipment are simply plug-n-play--you don't have to worry about driver installation at all.


With all of that said, you need a list of good quality linux native plugins. I recommend starting with the following open source plugins. They are free and of high quality. They should allow you enough capability to become familiar with Linux. Freeware and commercial linux-native plugins and software can come later. Consider the following:

Open Source

Apps:
Ardour
Qtractor
Kwave
Polyphone
LoopAuditioneer
Giada
Mixxx
Audacity
Zrhythm
Rubber Band Audio
ConvertWithMoss
OpenUTAU

Plugins:
LinuxSampler (Also needs Qsampler & Gigedit)
Odin2
Surge-XT
ShortCircuit-XT (coming soon)
Airwindows (gui-less) airwindows.com
Linux Studio Plugins
Yoshimi
AVL Drums x42-plugins.com
Cardinal
GxPlugins.lv2 (Guitarix2)
X42-Plugins x42-plugins.com (including midi strum)
MDA-lv2 Plugins (gui-less) (David Robillard on Gitlab)
DrumGizmo
Sfizz
LiquidSFZ
Dexed
FluidSynthPlug, FluidPlug, Fluida.lv2, FluidSynthVST, ACE Fluid Synth (a-fluidsynth.lv2), SFZero-X, fluidsynth.clap
Monique - Bass and Lead synth
Helm
Dragonfly Reverbs
DSP56K Emulator (Requires ROM)
LibreArp
Elephant DSP Room Reverb (binaries on Github)
Mverb ( github.com/figbug/mverb )
LV2 port of the C* Audio Plugins Suite (caps-lv2)
Ninjas2
ADLPlug
Fire (Distortion plugin)
Geonkick
Guitarix.vst
PaulXStretch
Ninjas2
Neural-amp-modeler-lv2
Ildaeil
Carla (as an LV2 plugin)
No Budget Orchestra Plugins
Delay Architect
Aether Reverb
Vaporizer 2
AIDA-X

Thanks for your advice, I'd tried some comercial DAWs too, StudioOne crash a lot, Waveform have incomplete functions in linux(can't use an external audio editor as in WIN/MAC, many LV2 plugins doesn't show gui other LV2 like x42 crash DAW, I tried open source and commercial plugins but I don't know if is my hardware or usb audio(Steinberg UR12) but in different distros have a lot of xruns, latency, the DAW get frizzed etc. and that happened in different machines, I think could be I'm using AMD machines or something like that, I don't want to use WIN cause the spying is crazy and how it tracks you, I'm thinking to buy a tape recorder LOL!

[edrickblade]

I had problems with all DAWs, Ardour, Qtractor, Muse, even Ardour work better in Windows than in Linux, in many distros I always have plugin crashing the DAWs, Xruns etc. I invest my time been in forums, configurations, patching kernels, realtime configurations and my music is stuck because I'm wasting too much time trying to configure a system to work as Windows works out of the box, I had problems even with Ubuntu Studio and AVL, is so hard(to not say is almost impossible) to find a substitute of the DAWs, plugins I use in Windows, Why there's not Cubase Linux version? plugins in yabridge works like virtual machine with graphic problems, there's no universal libraries in Linux, if something works in Ubuntu 22.04 it wont work in 22.10 because the libraries were updated, on the other side Windows is 99.9% compatible with every software in the Earth but it spy you.
Lets talk clear, it is hard to make contemporary music in Linux.

It is hard for you. If you can't get it to work, too bad but it's ridiculous to come into threads with people who are getting on fine and try to talk like your personal experience is across the board fact for everyone.

That's why I come to this forum, to try to find a solution!

[audiojunkie]

If you want a stable 100% compatibility with the standard DAWs, STAY ON WINDOWS 10, I had many problems with any linux distro with Waveform that some functions doesn't work in the linux version, ej. the external audio editor function simply doesn't appear in Wavefor 12 linux version, the latency and xruns in linux version is crazy, in windows version I don't have such issues.
My opinion, linux is good as a base for a developing workstation or as a server, but for a standard or audio production use is not, for that go to Windows 10(not 11) or Mac OS.

Reads like you had problems with one DAW rather than the operating system per se.

I had problems with all DAWs, Ardour, Qtractor, Muse, even Ardour work better in Windows than in Linux, in many distros I always have plugin crashing the DAWs, Xruns etc. I invest my time been in forums, configurations, patching kernels, realtime configurations and my music is stuck because I'm wasting too much time trying to configure a system to work as Windows works out of the box, I had problems even with Ubuntu Studio and AVL, is so hard(to not say is almost impossible) to find a substitute of the DAWs, plugins I use in Windows, Why there's not Cubase Linux version? plugins in yabridge works like virtual machine with graphic problems, there's no universal libraries in Linux, if something works in Ubuntu 22.04 it wont work in 22.10 because the libraries were updated, on the other side Windows is 99.9% compatible with every software in the Earth but it spy you.
Lets talk clear, it is hard to make contemporary music in Linux.

Here is where I babbled on and on on my high horse and lectured the user. There is no need for me to repeat all of that again....

Thanks for your advice, I'd tried some comercial DAWs too, StudioOne crash a lot, Waveform have incomplete functions in linux(can't use an external audio editor as in WIN/MAC, many LV2 plugins doesn't show gui other LV2 like x42 crash DAW, I tried open source and commercial plugins but I don't know if is my hardware or usb audio(Steinberg UR12) but in different distros have a lot of xruns, latency, the DAW get frizzed etc. and that happened in different machines, I think could be I'm using AMD machines or something like that, I don't want to use WIN cause the spying is crazy and how it tracks you, I'm thinking to buy a tape recorder LOL!

OK, There's a lot for you to learn, but I think this will help.... Old LV2 plugins used the GTK2 library that is no longer compatible with modern systems. These will work in Ardour though, because Ardour uses a statically linked copy of GTK2 built into it. I do not recommend using any of those old GTK2 plugins. The GUI won't show up in the DAWs for them. The plugins I listed in my post above should all be OK to use though.

Also, what are the specs of your computer system? You mentioned AMD, but there shouldn't be any problem with AMD. What RAM, Hard drive, CPU, etc are you using? Which Linux distro (including release version number) are you using?

Also, according to what I found here:

https://linuxmao-org.translate.goog/Ste ... r_pto=wapp

...your device is class compliant and should work without problems with the current kernels.

We can help with tuning the system a bit as well to avoid xruns. Respond with the above requested information. Thanks!

P.S. I'm sorry that I was hard on you at the beginning. Stick with things and be patient with yourself and your learning process, and you'll do fine.

[edrickblade]

If you want a stable 100% compatibility with the standard DAWs, STAY ON WINDOWS 10, I had many problems with any linux distro with Waveform that some functions doesn't work in the linux version, ej. the external audio editor function simply doesn't appear in Wavefor 12 linux version, the latency and xruns in linux version is crazy, in windows version I don't have such issues.
My opinion, linux is good as a base for a developing workstation or as a server, but for a standard or audio production use is not, for that go to Windows 10(not 11) or Mac OS.

Reads like you had problems with one DAW rather than the operating system per se.

I had problems with all DAWs, Ardour, Qtractor, Muse, even Ardour work better in Windows than in Linux, in many distros I always have plugin crashing the DAWs, Xruns etc. I invest my time been in forums, configurations, patching kernels, realtime configurations and my music is stuck because I'm wasting too much time trying to configure a system to work as Windows works out of the box, I had problems even with Ubuntu Studio and AVL, is so hard(to not say is almost impossible) to find a substitute of the DAWs, plugins I use in Windows, Why there's not Cubase Linux version? plugins in yabridge works like virtual machine with graphic problems, there's no universal libraries in Linux, if something works in Ubuntu 22.04 it wont work in 22.10 because the libraries were updated, on the other side Windows is 99.9% compatible with every software in the Earth but it spy you.
Lets talk clear, it is hard to make contemporary music in Linux.

Here is where I babbled on and on on my high horse and lectured the user. There is no need for me to repeat all of that again....

Thanks for your advice, I'd tried some comercial DAWs too, StudioOne crash a lot, Waveform have incomplete functions in linux(can't use an external audio editor as in WIN/MAC, many LV2 plugins doesn't show gui other LV2 like x42 crash DAW, I tried open source and commercial plugins but I don't know if is my hardware or usb audio(Steinberg UR12) but in different distros have a lot of xruns, latency, the DAW get frizzed etc. and that happened in different machines, I think could be I'm using AMD machines or something like that, I don't want to use WIN cause the spying is crazy and how it tracks you, I'm thinking to buy a tape recorder LOL!

OK, There's a lot for you to learn, but I think this will help.... Old LV2 plugins used the GTK2 library that is no longer compatible with modern systems. These will work in Ardour though, because Ardour uses a statically linked copy of GTK2 built into it. I do not recommend using any of those old GTK2 plugins. The GUI won't show up in the DAWs for them. The plugins I listed in my post above should all be OK to use though.

Also, what are the specs of your computer system? You mentioned AMD, but there shouldn't be any problem with AMD. What RAM, Hard drive, CPU, etc are you using? Which Linux distro (including release version number) are you using?

Also, according to what I found here:

https://linuxmao-org.translate.goog/Ste ... r_pto=wapp

...your device is class compliant and should work without problems with the current kernels.

We can help with tuning the system a bit as well to avoid xruns. Respond with the above requested information. Thanks!

P.S. I'm sorry that I was hard on you at the beginning. Stick with things and be patient with yourself and your learning process, and you'll do fine.

My system specs:
*AMD Athlon Gold 3150U(quad core) with Radeon Vega 3 Graphics(radeonsi, raven2, LLVM 15.0.7, DRM 3.54

*12gb DDR 4 RAM

*Steinberg UR12 Audio Interface

*Kernel Linux 6.6.6-1-liquorix-amd64 x86_64

*CPU set to performance

*Grub configured as: 's/GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"/GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash threadirqs mitigations=off"/g' /etc/default/grub

*sysctl.conf 'vm.swappiness=10 fs.inotify.max_user_watches=524288'

*User in audio group

*Linux Mint 21.2 Victoria 64-bit

*256gb NV drive(for system) 1 TB SSD(for plugins and sound libraries)

*Ubuntu Studio Controls (Jack-Pulseaudio configuration) 512 buffer size, 48000 sample rate

*Tracktion Waverm 12, Ardour 8.1.0 (using jack)

*Using native plugins only cause yabridge is running buggy

[dellboy]

I'm still not giving up! I haven't installed wine or any bridge. Just using Bitwig with several 3rd party synths and effects. I'm even playing games on Steam daily not a single problem!

Every distro that I have tried Bitwig in works out of the box with no problems. This shows how well it is programmed, and how much time they have put in to make it work great on Linux. Reaper also works well without crashing. Studio One is still in its very early stages and is buggy. Waveform is temperamental. Bitwig is probably the best DAW on Linux, shame I don't own it, but I already have too many DAWs.

[EnGee]

My system specs:
*AMD Athlon Gold 3150U(quad core) with Radeon Vega 3 Graphics(radeonsi, raven2, LLVM 15.0.7, DRM 3.54

*12gb DDR 4 RAM

*Steinberg UR12 Audio Interface

*Kernel Linux 6.6.6-1-liquorix-amd64 x86_64

*CPU set to performance

*Grub configured as: 's/GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"/GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash threadirqs mitigations=off"/g' /etc/default/grub

*sysctl.conf 'vm.swappiness=10 fs.inotify.max_user_watches=524288'

*User in audio group

*Linux Mint 21.2 Victoria 64-bit

*256gb NV drive(for system) 1 TB SSD(for plugins and sound libraries)

*Ubuntu Studio Controls (Jack-Pulseaudio configuration) 512 buffer size, 48000 sample rate

*Tracktion Waverm 12, Ardour 8.1.0 (using jack)

*Using native plugins only cause yabridge is running buggy

I'm not Linux expert or even advanced user. Maybe advanced beginner

I've noticed you are using Kernel 6.6.6.! This is a satanic kernel Seriously now, I'm using Kernel 5.15.0.89.

Here is my system info, if that helps:

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 5.15.0-89-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.4.0 Desktop: Cinnamon 5.8.4
    tk: GTK 3.24.33 wm: muffin dm: LightDM Distro: Linux Mint 21.2 Victoria base: Ubuntu 22.04 jammy
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: Gigabyte model: B550 AORUS ELITE AX V2 v: x.x serial: <superuser required>
    UEFI: American Megatrends LLC. v: F15 date: 01/04/2022
CPU:
  Info: 8-core model: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 3 rev: 0 cache:
    L1: 512 KiB L2: 4 MiB L3: 32 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 3745 high: 3793 min/max: N/A cores: 1: 3793 2: 3793 3: 3793 4: 3793 5: 3793
    6: 3793 7: 3793 8: 3793 9: 3793 10: 3793 11: 3793 12: 3793 13: 3793 14: 3793 15: 3034 16: 3793
    bogomips: 121370
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GA104 [GeForce RTX 3070 Lite Hash Rate] vendor: ASUSTeK driver: nvidia
    v: 535.129.03 pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16 ports: active: none off: DP-2
    empty: DP-1, DP-3, HDMI-A-1, HDMI-A-2 bus-ID: 0b:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:2488
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.4 driver: X: loaded: nvidia
    unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,nouveau,vesa gpu: nvidia display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 5120x2880 s-dpi: 144
  Monitor-1: DP-2 res: 5120x2880 dpi: 186 diag: 801mm (31.5")
  OpenGL: renderer: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070/PCIe/SSE2 v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 535.129.03
    direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GA104 High Definition Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
    pcie: speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 0b:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:228b
  Device-2: AMD Starship/Matisse HD Audio vendor: Gigabyte driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie:
    speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 0d:00.4 chip-ID: 1022:1487
  Device-3: PreSonus Audio AudioBox iTwo type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio bus-ID: 3-1.2:4
    chip-ID: 194f:0403
  Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.15.0-89-generic running: yes
  Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.99.1 running: yes
  Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.48 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8125 2.5GbE vendor: Gigabyte driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: speed: 5 GT/s
    lanes: 1 port: f000 bus-ID: 09:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8125
  IF: eno1 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel pcie: speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1
    bus-ID: 0a:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:2723
  IF: wlp10s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel AX200 Bluetooth type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 1-5:2 chip-ID: 8087:0029
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: down bt-service: enabled,running rfk-block:
    hardware: no software: yes address: <filter>
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 1.82 TiB used: 85.69 GiB (4.6%)
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 970 EVO 1TB size: 931.51 GiB speed: 31.6 Gb/s
    lanes: 4 serial: <filter> temp: 21.9 C
  ID-2: /dev/nvme1n1 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 970 EVO 500GB size: 465.76 GiB speed: 31.6 Gb/s
    lanes: 4 serial: <filter> temp: 22.9 C
  ID-3: /dev/sda type: USB vendor: Samsung model: PSSD T7 size: 465.76 GiB serial: <filter>
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 456.84 GiB used: 85.65 GiB (18.7%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5
  ID-2: /boot/efi size: 96 MiB used: 32.5 MiB (33.8%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 2 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 file: /swapfile
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: Hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 10 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
  Device-1: 1-5:2 info: Intel AX200 Bluetooth type: Bluetooth driver: btusb rev: 2.0
    speed: 12 Mb/s chip-ID: 8087:0029
  Hub-2: 1-6:3 info: Genesys Logic Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 05e3:0608
  Device-1: 1-6.1:5 info: 8BitDo IDLE type: HID driver: hid-generic,usbhid rev: 1.1
    speed: 12 Mb/s chip-ID: 2dc8:3109
  Device-2: 1-7:4 info: Integrated Express ITE Device type: HID driver: hid-generic,usbhid
    rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s chip-ID: 048d:5702
  Hub-3: 2-0:1 info: Super-speed hub ports: 4 rev: 3.1 speed: 10 Gb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
  Hub-4: 3-0:1 info: Hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 4 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
  Hub-5: 3-1:2 info: Terminus Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 1a40:0101
  Hub-6: 3-1.1:3 info: Genesys Logic Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 05e3:0610
  Hub-7: 3-1.1.1:5 info: Huasheng USB2.0 HUB ports: 4 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 214b:7250
  Device-1: 3-1.2:4 info: PreSonus Audio AudioBox iTwo type: Audio driver: snd-usb-audio
    rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 194f:0403
  Device-2: 3-1.3:6 info: Razer USA DeathAdder Elite type: Mouse,Keyboard
    driver: hid-generic,usbhid rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s chip-ID: 1532:005c
  Device-3: 3-1.4:7 info: Logitech G413 Gaming Keyboard type: Keyboard,HID
    driver: hid-generic,usbhid rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s chip-ID: 046d:c33a
  Hub-8: 4-0:1 info: Super-speed hub ports: 4 rev: 3.1 speed: 10 Gb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
  Device-1: 4-2:2 info: Samsung PSSD T7 type: Mass Storage driver: uas rev: 3.2 speed: 5 Gb/s
    chip-ID: 04e8:4001
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 21.0 C mobo: 21.0 C gpu: nvidia temp: 25 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: nvidia fan: 0%

What I did is booting my USB stick that has the iso (read the Mint Linux info and do it by their recommendation if not already done that). I pressed F12 and then booted to the partition that said UFI or UFEI (I forgot exactly), then I installed from that USB stick into my empty partition. That's it! I only chose to install the first nVidia driver in a list, and that's it.

Every distro that I have tried Bitwig in works out of the box with no problems. This shows how well it is programmed, and how much time they have put in to make it work great on Linux. Reaper also works well without crashing. Studio One is still in its very early stages and is buggy. Waveform is temperamental. Bitwig is probably the best DAW on Linux, shame I don't own it, but I already have too many DAWs.

Yes Bitwig runs like a butter here! Even Vital runs better than in Windows! Reaper also runs fine, but I had to download it from the developer website, not from the software manager.

Well, I try to avoid Wine and Carla. I've run it few years ago with Ubuntu Studio and it worked well that time. I remember I installed Dune 3 and many other plugins successfully. But, I don't want to do that now because it is the limitation that I'm after.

If I don't have Bitwig, sure I would use Reaper, but that requires more 3rd party native software. Anyway, still Vital and Surge XT might more than enough! But I would buy TAL Drums and either Diva or TAL-J8. This would be my minimalist setup with Reaper, but Bitwig has covered a lot of drums and working with it is a pleasure I still have Reaper installed as a backup, but I don't think I will need it.

[audiojunkie]

Cupcakemusic stated:

My system specs:
*AMD Athlon Gold 3150U(quad core) with Radeon Vega 3 Graphics(radeonsi, raven2, LLVM 15.0.7, DRM 3.54

*12gb DDR 4 RAM

*Steinberg UR12 Audio Interface

*Kernel Linux 6.6.6-1-liquorix-amd64 x86_64

*CPU set to performance

*Grub configured as: 's/GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"/GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash threadirqs mitigations=off"/g' /etc/default/grub

*sysctl.conf 'vm.swappiness=10 fs.inotify.max_user_watches=524288'

*User in audio group

*Linux Mint 21.2 Victoria 64-bit

*256gb NV drive(for system) 1 TB SSD(for plugins and sound libraries)

*Ubuntu Studio Controls (Jack-Pulseaudio configuration) 512 buffer size, 48000 sample rate

*Tracktion Waverm 12, Ardour 8.1.0 (using jack)

*Using native plugins only cause yabridge is running buggy

Your system looks plenty sufficient for what you are trying to do. I see that you are using Ubuntu Studio, which doesn't use Pipewire, but uses JACK. What do you have configured for your limits?

For example:

limits.conf/audio.conf
It is advisable to set up your /etc/security/limits.conf or /etc/security/limits.d/audio.conf/ file properly, for example:

@audio - rtprio 90 # maximum realtime priority
@audio - memlock unlimited # maximum locked-in-memory address space (KB)

https://wiki.linuxaudio.org/wiki/system_configuration

Just an FYI -- I personally prefer the new PipeWire to the older JACK setup, and I think it's actually easier to configure and use. (This is only MY personal opinion YMMV)

[Largos]

Those system config modifications are mostly pointless on a newer machine, it even says on the page. I kinda wish people would stop posting that link, especially to people new for linux. It gives out the wrong impression that this is some kind of necessary standard for regular set ups when it's not. Especially when one of the tweaks is turning off a security setting.

[edrickblade]

Colleagues, I have some news, I installed the new Zorin OS 17 and I'm using Tracktion Waveform 12 without any audio configuration, neither Jack or Pipewire, just ALSA, the results, the audio performance is just great as in Win/Mac with the only drawback, Waveform external audio editor function is broken in Linux, but at least no xruns, no latency problems, even with the default kernel, I tend to use Ocenaudio wave editor to remove background noise, opening it through Waveform's external editor function, but this function is not available in linux,(the same in many distros) but the audio performance is great with no crashes for now.
If somebody know how to solve the external audio editor problem, I'll be so grateful for your help, I think it could be a coding bug, because also the plugins sub-menu windows opens in the background and always need to right click on top bar and select "Always on top" option every time i open a plugin, only happen with 3rd party plugins.

[THE INTRANCER]

I think the crashing issue I had with Windows 10 is fixed as I've not had a BSOD in the past month or so. But it is a weird one because I've not touched any one of these components on my PC. I have six sticks of RAM which have never been taken out. I didn't take them out a month ago, I just pressed them all in, although I have to say that there was virtually no movement in doing so. Touch wood so that there is no more crashing.

[audiojunkie]

Those system config modifications are mostly pointless on a newer machine, it even says on the page. I kinda wish people would stop posting that link, especially to people new for linux. It gives out the wrong impression that this is some kind of necessary standard for regular set ups when it's not. Especially when one of the tweaks is turning off a security setting.

I know that that page is out of date, but you will note that I only mentioned that the rtprio and memlock settings needed to be done, in my post. I simply added the URL that explains further details about making those changes. I did not recommend any of the other instructions.

[audiojunkie]

In fact, I only generally recommend the following be done for most people:

1. Configure rtprio and memlock limits

2. Add self to the Pipewire group

3. Change audio card profile to Pro Audio mode

4. Configure samplerate and buffersize

5. Boot with kernel parameter /preempt=full (if needed)